Hiding and Seeking
by AsphodelRegrets
Summary: Fifth-year Luna Lovegood goes looking for something, and finds Draco Malfoy in the Room of Requirement.
1. Seeking

Luna Lovegood was wandering the corridors of Hogwarts, looking for something.

She wasn't quite sure what she was looking for. She had had a clear idea when she left Ravenclaw Tower, and it had completely vanished.

Did it matter anymore? . . . She was looking for _something_.

After some indecisive wandering, she found herself in front of the blank stretch of wall that concealed the Room of Requirement. Luna had fond memories of the Come-and-Go Room; in her fourth year, this had been the meeting place of Dumbledore's Army. It was really a shame that they weren't meeting anymore. Maybe _that_ was what she was looking for, a shadow of friendships unmaintained.

She began the customary pacing-back-and-forth, concentrating on her need.

_I need to find something . . . I need to find something . . . I need to find something . . ._

The door appeared. Luna stepped cautiously into the Room. It _was_ the DA room, altered almost beyond recognition. Towering piles of miscellaneous detritus climbed to the arched ceiling, a veritable kingdom of lost things.

"I wonder where you came from," she said softly. She was speaking to the room, the objects . . . the world at large, really.

"_Who's there?_"

It was a male voice, a low, urgent hiss that reverberated slightly. Luna began to walk gingerly forward, weaving her way towards the sound of the voice.

"I said, who's _there_!"

The voice broke, then wavered off. The speaker, whoever he was, was tense with fear.

"Me," said Luna simply, trying to put the speaker at ease. She followed the voice in a new direction, playing Marco-Polo with him.

"Who are you?"

Fear, yes, but also curiosity. Luna wove around a teetering pile of debris, nearing her goal.

She paused. There were two distinct paths ahead in this convoluted maze, and Luna needed another hint.

"A friend." It was the first response that came to mind. The speaker was silent, apparently considering her simple yet cryptic answer.

_It was true_, Luna reflected. The Room had brought them together, she and the faceless voice, and she certainly did not intend to harm him. This made them friends of a sort, did it not?

The voice came again. It was slightly nasal with irritation now. "_Seriously_, who are you? Goyle? If that's you, drop it. I don't have time for bloody games."

Luna took the left-hand path, considering her next reply.

"I adore a game. What shall we play?"

"You're not Goyle, then." He hesitated. "Do you have a name?"

"Name your game," she said dreamily, the two words knocking pleasantly together in her mind.

"Coy, aren't we?" The voice was more distant now, growing fainter and more reverberant. Luna bit her lip slightly in anticipation. He would play her game.

" 'What is water?' said one koi to another," she quipped, angling her path towards the voice.

"Water is watever you wish it to be, little koi."

"And I can be whatever I wish myself?"

"Wish yourself far away from here, if you have any sense."

"I wish you would come out."

"Wish on, my fish. I am unmoved."

"Yet constantly moving."

"I've played your game, o fountain of epigrams. Consider yourself sated and begone."

"I refuse to brook disappointment, at this point."

She was getting closer.

"Welcome to my brook, little fish. Now, please leave."

On a sudden impulse, Luna ducked around a corner and quite literally ran into the source of the disembodied voice.

She had found what she was looking for.


	2. Asking

In a tangle of limbs and blond hair, the two students scrambled to their feet. The boy, easily a head taller than Luna, straightened his robes with a few sharp motions. She recognized him almost at once. It was that bad-tempered Slytherin prefect who had been on the Inquisitorial Squad . . . What was his name?

"Oh, hello," she said politely, waving her hands vaugely about in a half-hearted attempt to smooth her hair. The boy looked taken aback. He sneered coldly, but Luna wasn't convinced by his facade. He was curious and tense.

"What are you doing here?" he asked carefully.

"I was looking for something," she asserted, gazing at him with her owlishly protuberant blue eyes.

"What?"

"Well, the thing is, I don't know, exactly. I set out to find something, and found this lovely room." She indicated it with an all-encompassing sort of gesture.

The boy shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. He seemed wholly unsure what to make of her.

"You're that . . . fifth year Ravenclaw. The one who used to tag along after Potter sometimes."

"If you mean I was in Dumbledore's Army, then yes," she said evenly, not taking her eyes from his face.

He flinched noticeably at the mention of Dumbledore's name. Interesting.

"Oh, I remember you now," he said offhandedly, regaining his steely composure. "Lovegood's daughter. Your father runs that . . . magazine."

The word _magazine_ seemed to express everything that was undesirable and idiotic. Luna was used to this reaction. _The Quibbler_ wasn't the most popular publication in the world.

"I'm Luna Lovegood," she said politely, extending her left hand.

The boy looked at her hand like it was a dead Plimpy. "Er. I see," he said, taking it for the briefest moment. It was a poor pantomime of a handshake, all in all. "Draco Malfoy."

"Ahh," she said pensively. "I knew it was something like 'Dragon'."

Malfoy shot Luna a sharp look. Apparently his . . . _unusual_ name was a sore point.

Luna continued. "What brings you to the Come-and-Go Room?"

"None of your business," he sneered, apprehension flickering in his grey eyes.

"Oh." She tried a different tactic. "Were you looking for something, or hiding something?"

"Neither," he said coolly. Malfoy plainly expected to stymie her with that. Luna loved riddles. She looked even more intently into his face, causing him to back up slightly in discomfort.

"So, you were hiding yourself . . . Hiding from someone? Are you in trouble? Ah, but no, this version of the Room only appears to those seeking an object. So, you were definitely interacting with some_thing_."

He flinched again. "None of your _business_!" he hissed, more aggressively this time. "Look, Lovegood, if you know what's good for you, you'll back out. You might want to stay away from the Room in future, as well," he added in what was obviously supposed to be a menacing tone.

"In future? So, you come here often, or are planning to return in future." She was enjoying herself thoroughly. This was better than searching for Nargles, any day.

"Just stay out of it, okay? Forget I said anything." Malfoy leaned close to her, his long, pale fingers flexing on his wand. "This is a riddle you _really_ don't want to solve." His left arm twitched slightly, planting a seed of suspicion in Luna's mind. If she was right, then the boy was more dangerous than anyone would have suspected.

"Well, okay," she agreed reluctantly, turning to leave. "Goodbye, Draco Malfoy."

As she meandered her way back to Ravenclaw Tower, Luna turned the incident over in her mind. The Malfoy boy was hiding something, something that both thrilled and terrified him.

She would have no right to call herself Io Lovegood's daughter if she didn't ty to find out what it was!


	3. Waiting

AN: Sorry for the hiatus. It happens. Also, I just figured out how to insert line breaks, which is very exciting.

* * *

><p>Luna had chosen her dress for Slughorn's Christmas party carefully. It was one of her favorites: spangled silver mesh over grey satin. She accessorized with her mother's starlike silver earrings.<p>

"I love your robes, Luna," said Ginny, combing out her long red hair. Luna beamed at her.

"Thanks! I like yours. It's the exact color of mistletoe leaves. Who are you going with?"

"Dean," she said, frowning slightly.

"You're not happy with him?" probed Luna concernedly.

"No, we're fine. You're going with . . . Harry, right?"

Her casual tone was slightly forced. Luna pursed her lips sympathetically.

"Yes, it was really nice of him to ask me as a _friend_," she clarified, laying it on a bit thick. Ginny smirked knowingly at her.

"Thanks, but you don't have to protect me so much. I like Harry a lot, but I'm seeing someone, and I don't think he's into me, and . . . yeah.

"Just do what makes you happy, okay?" said Luna. "The heart wants what it wants."

"Hm. Good point. Are you interested in anyone?"

"No . . ." she said mistily. "I don't think anyone would want to date me, anyway," Luna added frankly. "It's really nice that I've found such good friends, but it would be asking too much to want someone to be attracted to me, I think."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," insisted Ginny. "Anyone who can't see how beautiful you are is a waste of your time."

"Hm. All right," said Luna dubiously. "It's a shame that Hermione is going with that McLogger fellow, though. He seems perfectly horrible."

"McLaggen? Yeah, he's an idiot." Ginny rolled her eyes. "I wish Hermione and my brother would just drop their stupid pride already."

"She's only going with McGallen to spite Ron? That really is horrible. Is Ron going?"

"No, he didn't get invited, big shock." She arranged her hair over one shoulder.

Luna stood up. "Well, I'm going down. Coming?"

"In a minute."

She descended to the Great Hall and waited for Harry. A few minutes later, he joined her, wearing his dress robes and looking distinctly harrassed. Only then did Luna notice the mutinously muttering crowd of Harry's female admirers.

"Hi," he said, smiling at Luna. "Shall we get going, then?"

"Oh, yes. Where is the party?"

Harry led the way to Slughorn's office. The party was really lovely. They chatted with a very ruffled Hermione, who was avoiding McLuchen, and Luna was just starting to explain about the Rotfang Conspiracy to Harry and a few professors.

"They're working to bring down the Ministry through a combination of Dark magic and gum disease," she said, when they were interrupted. The awful caretaker led that blond boy (Dragon, was it?) up to Slughorn. Apparently he had been 'gate-crashing', but Slughorn allowed him to stay. Snape called Dragon away a few moments later, and Harry made his excuses to Luna before following them at an unsubtle distance. She was curious, but the Divination professor was even more curious about the Rotfang Conspiracy, so Luna continued her explanation. It was nice to have an interested audience.

Harry and Snape returned within minutes of each other, but the blond Slytherin did not. Luna politely asked the very tispsy Divination professor to make her excuses to Harry, and slipped away from the party.

She found Dragon boy sitting on a windowsill in the next corridor over. He started and almost fell off when he saw Luna.

"What do you want?" he demmanded venemously, standing and brushing off his robes.

"Hello . . . I'm afraid I can't quite remember your name. Dragon?"

"It's Draco. Draco Malfoy."

"Oh, that's right." She went over to him and sat gingerly on the windowsill. He stood in front of her, arms crossed defensively. "Anything you want to talk about?" she prodded.

"No."

"Oh." She looked out the window at the moonlit snow covering the grounds. "It's a pretty night."

"I repeat: What do you want?"

"I just remembered you from the Come and Go Room last week, and I was curious."

"Curiousity is a dangerous thing in this political climate."

Luna finally felt a tug of irritation at his caustic denials and veiled threats. "Is that supposed to scare me?"

"You should be scared. You should be scared witless."

"Such concern for my welfare," she said, trying sarcasm for the first time. "Are you scary?"

"I could be," he said cagily.

"I think you're scared, Draco Malfoy. I think you are the one that's scared witless." She stood to leave, but a hand on her arm stopped her.

"No- please-" His voice broke embarrassingly. "You have . . . a comforting presence. Please stay."

Luna could tell how tense he was when he said 'please'. This was not something he was used to saying. Slowly, she sat back on the windowsill and gestured for him to join her. He did so, his spine stiff as a rod. Luna looked out at the dazzling winter night and waited for Draco to talk to her.


End file.
